U.S. Sen. Tom Udall and Democratic Party of New Mexico chairman Deb Haaland teamed up to cast the state’s votes for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as Clinton clinched the Democratic presidential nomination.
New Mexico cast 27 votes for Clinton and 16 votes for Sanders. The votes came as a result of a June primary, which Clinton narrowly won, and the votes of super-delegates, who unanimously supported Clinton.
Clinton ultimately was nominated by acclamation, at the request of Sanders himself who has fought throughout the convention to unify Democrats against Donald Trump, even as some of his supporters insist they will not back Clinton.
Those speaking to announce the votes and the state, however, are firmly on Hillary’s team. Udall and Haaland were among the superdelegates to back Clinton.
Udall mentioned the national labs and the Native American tribes in the state in his remarks, before he handed off to Haaland. Udall also mentioned veterans and the Navajo Codetalkers.
It was similar to how Gov. Susana Martinez handed off the announcing of votes to Republican delegate Samuel LeDoux, though Udall endorsed the Democratic candidate while Martinez still has not endorsed Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Haaland mentioned two things many New Mexicans are familiar with—the state question of “red or green” and the TV show Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad filmed in Albuquerque and red and green chile are all but a religion for most New Mexicans.
Haaland, the first Native American women to head state party, also mentioned the tribes, pueblos and sovereign nations in the state.
“Today, Democrats made history—Hillary Clinton became the first woman nominee to run for President of the United States, and I was honored to announce New Mexico’s delegate votes at the Democratic National Convention,” Haaland said in a statement afterward. “Hillary broke a glass ceiling, and now we’re going to move forward and elect her president of the United States.”
Hours after the delegate votes, former President Bill Clinton, the husband of Hillary Clinton, spoke to the crowd.
U.S. Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben Ray Lujan are scheduled to speak Wednesday during the convention. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are also scheduled to speak Wednesday.
Update: Added video of Udall and Haaland speaking, courtesy the Democratic Party of New Mexico.
